Some flat-earthers have appealed to the Book of Enoch to support their argument that the Bible teaches that the earth is flat. Unfortunately, some Christians of late have swallowed this faux history (and much more false history) and begun proclaiming flat earth as truth in a misguided attempt to defend the Bible. Only in recent decades have Christians fallen for this lame attack on the authority of Scripture and foolishly begun reproducing these figures as if this is what the Bible taught all along. But it was Bible critics, not Christians, who introduced these diagrams. Depictions of an enclosed dome over a flat earth (Figure 1) supposedly taught in the Bible did not start appearing until the 19th century. Where do flat-earthers get this notion? Contrary to common misconception, for the two millennia of the Christian age, the church did not teach that the earth is flat. However, flat-earthers have failed to learn this lesson, because they insist that their understanding of biblical passages teach that the earth is flat. This should be a lesson to all of us not to read into Scripture (eisegesis) our preferred cosmology. Even today we live with the consequences of both mistakes. The second example resulted in the Galileo affair. The first example ultimately led to the poor translation of rāqîa as “firmament,” which in turn led to much confusion (including flat-earth movement today). Examples include the Septuagint’s translation of rāqîa as stereoma, and Thomas Aquinas’ endorsement of the Ptolemaic model. Nevertheless, throughout the ages, people have chosen to understand these verses from the creation account, as well as other verses throughout the Bible, in terms of the cosmology of their day. If God had done otherwise, it would have needlessly exposed the Bible to ridicule in nearly every age, for man’s cosmologies have changed continually over time. God exemplified his wisdom in not endorsing any of man’s cosmologies in his Word. These statements briefly describe God’s creative acts during Creation Week, but they hardly teach any particular cosmology, such as geocentrism or heliocentrism, whether the earth is flat or a sphere, or whether the universe is expanding or static. The Day Two account (Genesis 1:6–8) tells us that God made the rāqîa (firmament or expanse or sky), and that God called it “heaven.” On Day Four (Genesis 1:16–19), God made the luminaries (astronomical bodies) that he placed in the rāqîa.
For instance, Genesis 1:1 states that in the beginning God created heaven and earth. There I made the point that the Bible doesn’t endorse any cosmology, but instead gives only bare details regarding cosmology that could be understood several ways. In a previous article, I discussed a few of the biblical passages that, according to some people, teach that the earth is flat. Many details of the cosmology of the Book of Enoch contradict the modern flat-earth model.
A few parts of the Book of Enoch teach that the earth is flat.The Book of Enoch should not be used to interpret Scripture.
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